Brush Christiansen

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Brush Christiansen - Wikipedia

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Kelvin "Brush" Christiansen
Biographical details
Born	Fort Frances, ONT, CAN
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
1979–1996	Alaska-Anchorage

Head coaching record
Overall	287-229-30 (.553)
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
1987 Great West Regular Season Champion

Kelvin "Brush" Christiansen is a Canadian retired ice hockey coach. He spent the entirety of his coaching career at Alaska-Anchorage after founding the program in 1979, retiring after 1995–96 season.^[1]

Career

Brush Christiansen became a major figure at Alaska-Anchorage when he helped found the varsity ice hockey program in 1979. He took over as head coach and led the Seawolves through several good years as a Division II program, but the school's remote location led to an inability to find a conference to play in. When D-II ice hockey collapsed after the 1983–84 season, rather than drop down to Division III as most programs did, Alaska-Anchorage became a Division I Independent for a season before they were finally able to join a conference.^[2]

Along with three other western US schools, Alaska-Anchorage became a founding member of the Great West Hockey Conference in 1985. Despite their best efforts, however, two of the four schools had dropped their programs within three years and the conference was dissolved after the 1987–88 season.^[3] The experiment did, however, help bring Alaska-Anchorage some national attention and when they posted their first 20-win season as a D-I team two years later they were invited to participate in the 1990 NCAA Tournament.^[4] Christiansen's first foray in the tournament was predictably brief but the following season, finding his team invited once more, Brush's Seawolves shocked a great deal of onlookers by downing a strong Boston College team in two games to advance into the quarterfinals.

After another berth the next year Alaska-Anchorage was firmly established as a competitive D-I program and was invited to join the WCHA in 1993.^[5] Consistently facing much stiffer competition, the Seawolves' yearly records declined after joining the conference, but with their future much more secure Christiansen decided to step down in 1996 but he didn't entirely step away from the program, still keeping up with current events.^[6]

Head coaching record

Statistics overview
Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason
Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves (Independent (D–II)) (1979–1984)
1979–80	Alaska–Anchorage	8-0-0
1980–81	Alaska–Anchorage	14-10-0
1981–82	Alaska–Anchorage	15-12-0
1982–83	Alaska–Anchorage	20-7-1
1983–84	Alaska–Anchorage	23-6-1
Alaska–Anchorage:		80-35-2
Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves (Independent (D–I)) (1984–1985)
1984–85	Alaska–Anchorage	17-21-0
Alaska–Anchorage:		17-21-0
Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves (GWHC) (1985–1988)
1985–86	Alaska–Anchorage	12-20-1	3-8-1	4th
1986–87	Alaska–Anchorage	19-9-2	9-6-1	1st
1987–88	Alaska–Anchorage	18-15-3	3-5-0	3rd
Alaska–Anchorage:		49-44-6	15-19-2
Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves Independent (1988–1993)
1988–89	Alaska–Anchorage	18-13-3
1989–90	Alaska–Anchorage	21-11-2			NCAA First Round
1990–91	Alaska–Anchorage	22-17-4			NCAA Quarterfinals
1991–92	Alaska–Anchorage	27-8-1			NCAA West Regional Quarterfinals
1992–93	Alaska–Anchorage	18-13-5
Alaska–Anchorage:		106-62-15
Alaska–Anchorage Seawolves (WCHA) (1993–1996)
1993–94	Alaska–Anchorage	15-19-2	14-16-2	6th	WCHA First Round
1994–95	Alaska–Anchorage	11-25-0	10-22-0	10th	WCHA First Round
1995–96	Alaska–Anchorage	9-23-5	8-20-5	9th	WCHA First Round
Alaska–Anchorage:		35-67-7	32-58-7
Total:		287-229-30
National champion Postseason invitational champion Conference regular season champion Conference regular season and conference tournament champion Division regular season champion Division regular season and conference tournament champion Conference tournament champion

^[2]

References

^ "Brush Christiansen, hockey coach, 1979-96". Alaska Anchorage. 2011-04-01. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
^ ^a ^b "2013-14 Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves Media Guide". ISSUU.com. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
^ "History of the Great West Hockey Conference". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
^ "NCAA Division 1 Tournament". College Hockey Historical Archive. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
^ "Brush Christiansen Career Record". College Hockey News. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
^ "Brush Christiansen: Time to support UAA hockey team". Alaska Dispatch News. 2014-01-23. Retrieved 2014-08-08.

External links

Brush Christiansen career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database

v t e Alaska Anchorage Seawolves men's ice hockey
Playing venues	UAA Sports Center (1979–1983) Sullivan Arena (1983–2019) Avis Alaska Sports Complex (2019–present)
Head coaches	Brush Christiansen (1979–1996) Dean Talafous (1996–2001) John Hill (2001–2005) Dave Shyiak (2005–2013) Matt Thomas (2013–2018) Matt Curley (2018–2021) Matt Shasby (2022–present)
Seasons	1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 ~~2020–21~~ 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Conference affiliations	Great West (1985–1988) WCHA (1993–2021)
Rivalries	Alaska Nanooks
All-time leaders	Statistical leaders Dean Larson (200 Points) Rob Conn/Joey Hayse (76 Goals) Paul Krake (53 Wins)
Retired numbers	79 Brush Christiansen
NCAA Tournament appearances	1990 1991 1992
University of Alaska Anchorage Anchorage, AK

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